Rocket From The Tombs

Has anybody out there heard these guys? They were a short-lived Cleveland punk band in the mid-70s, including Dave Thomas and the late Peter Laughner (Pere Ubu), as well as Cheetah Chrome and Johnny Blitz (Dead Boys). RFTT predated those bands and was only together about a year. Anyway, they've reformed (sort of) and are just completing a short two-month US tour. The current lineup is Dave Thomas, Cheetah Chrome, Richard Lloyd from Television filling in for Laughner, original bass player Craig Bell, and drummer Steve Mehlman (Pere Ubu).

I knew nothing about these guys but went to see them in Atlanta last week mostly because Richard Lloyd is one of my favorite guitar players. It was the best show I've seen this year, and one of the best punk shows I've ever seen. They have a CD of old live stuff and demos from the original lineup called The Day The Earth Met The Rocket From The Tombs that came out on Smog Veil Records (www.smogveil.com) last year. They've also recorded one with the new lineup called Rocket Redux that they're selling at shows now but will be officially released in February. Rocket Redux is amazing -- I've had it for a week and have probably listened to it ten times. If you love punk, check them out.

RFTT does a few songs that later showed up on Dead Boys records (Sonic Reducer, Ain't It Fun, What Love Is) and Pere Ubu records (30 Seconds Over Tokyo, Final Solution). Every song on Rocket Redux is killer. I just noticed people selling copies on ebay that they bought at the shows, if anyone's interested.